Should of gone to London



Visitors dock at Lowestoft Cruising Club

May 12 - Nice sail up to Lowestoft but wicked cold!   We departed with a reefed main due to forecasted high gusts.  The canvas enclosures are a blessing.  The tide finally changed about halfway and we went from crawling at 4 knots to 8-9 knots....occasionally 10...with our reefed main!  Arrived just time for the 6:00 p.m bridge opening. The Commodore, along with the Dock Master of the Lowestoft Cruising Club, were waiting at the dock to take our lines.  Remarkable on its own but more so when you consider it was raining. We are enjoying our visits with small yacht clubs.  They remind us of ours, Appalachee Bay Yacht Club, at home.  With that on my mind, I want to say hello to Lorna Tweedie, one of ABYC past commodores.  King and I both send wishes for a speedy recovery. 



The lift is sitting at the end of the rainbow! A message?

As luck would have it, the place we had considered lifting out is located directly across the river from our berth.  The weather is the pits with no let up in sight until next week so King's brain went into overdrive.....What to do with our time?  My thoughts were running along hopping a train back to London, maybe dinner and a show.  King, however, had other ideas, like painting the bottom.  Did I mention it was raining and cold?  We located a decent hotel within walking distance of the Cruising Club and the dock master had agreed to let us use their dinghy dock to tie up at night.  All set for the haul out today but the winds are blowing a houlie at 45-50k!  Should of gone to London.....


May 16 - Lift off was scheduled for 4:00 today.  To put it mildly, I was a bit nervous about this haul out.  We realized way too late the forward bar on the lift does not move so King had to position our head sail to within inches of it for the straps to get even a minimum grip forward on the pontoons.  King did a remarkable job guiding her in.  The crew had studied drawings of Ostinato's underneath layout prior to our arrival so they were well prepared.  With all that said, I don't think I breathed from the time the straps went under the keel until she was settled down on the hard.

Holding on by a wing and a prayer!



The jobs list was short.  Pressure wash, sand and paint the bottom, raise the water line, change the zincs on the prop, and replace the air intake for the diesel heaters with ones that we had purchased at the Southampton Boat Show last summer.  As a result of all this fun activity, I am now sporting navy blue fingernails which as you might guess is the color of our new bottom paint.  The good news is that we found a disaster waiting to happen with a bad rubber bushing on the starboard prop and got a definitive YES on the "will the boat stand evenly on its keels?" question.  This means no more diving to change the zincs if we can find a nice sandy beach to dry out on.  Thankfully our stay at the Winelodge was brief.  Everything that was said in the on-line reviews was true, including that the hall lights, which are motion activated, do not seem to recognize the presence of short people so unless King was with me I ran through pitch dark hallways to reach the room.  In four days, our list was completed and we were gently splashed back in the water. Many thanks to Leon Smythe who provided everything from tips on getting the water line straight to a cuppa tea and to the fabulous lift operator and his crew from Eastern Marine Charters.

Remains of the ship that guarded
 the river's entrance during WW2

May 21 - No respite in the weather.  The wind continues to howl out of the North.  Latest forecasts indicate  it may be another week before we see the return of southerly winds.  Its looking a bit tight for making the Caladonian Canal before June 8.  We decided to wait out our time back at the Lowestoft Cruising Club for a few more days so we could take advantage of 7 days for 5 slip rental and do a little sight seeing around Oulton Broad.  The area, including a lake and marsh, is believed to be man made as a result of medieval peat cutting used for fuel.  hmmmm.




May 23- If one is to believe the forecast, it appears that we will finally have a small weather window on Monday and Tuesday.  We plan to head for Hartlepool which is an overnight run, our first since the Scillies.   We are sorry to miss Whitby but Hartlepool, 30 miles further north, appears to be an easier transportation site should the north winds capture us again. 

Apple Pie
Reward for tearing down the head

While waiting for the weather, we took care of some much needed maintenance.  Bright and early in the morning, the head decided it could take no more and became an all day affair.  After hours of banging and poking, King finally gave in and pulled the hose out of the boat.  He, along with a few members of the Cruising Club who stopped by to watch the excitement, banged the hose on the docks finally breaking the sediment up enough for water to run through.  Everyone and everything smelled of poo by the end of the day.  But....the head is running very nicely now.





Have I mentioned its cold..let's add some hail!

May 24 - Walked the 3 mile + round trip to the marina closest to the town center today.  We had hoped to move there earlier in the week as it is on the other side of the bridge which has limited opening times.  However, all of the hammerheads are full and charges for inside berths are at 1 1/2 times the normal rate because of the big girl's width.  The plan now is to move on Sunday (26th) so we are sure we won't get trapped by the bridge....the memory of the lock in Ipswich is still fresh!  While checking out the marina we met other cruisers who are also waiting to head north.  It looks like there will be a small flotilla of 6 boats, and possibly Wings who is still waiting in Ipswich, will heading out as soon as the winds shift. 


Disappointing news arrived today.  Our daughter, Barbara and partner Michelle will not be able to join us for our crossing to Norway in early July.  A long awaited RFP finally hit the streets with due dates right in the middle of her planned time with us.  Maybe Thanksgiving.